Michell Houellebecq has a palpable talent to alarm you. I use palpable because this strategy entails most things that are tangible that you can feel and touch. They are not all of a sexual nature either but involve other creatures. It is a kind of literary pestilence that he uses to disgust or attract the reader. At the same time the reader is forced to make a decision about what kind of writer Houellebecq is. Also, you are encouraged to dislike him by this same method of writing. The writing is in your face with a cake mixer full of shit. Either you like him or you don’t. But even if you don’t like him you are forced to laugh at some of the absurdity that he uses. Are they coming from him or the protagonist? Who can tell?
On page 50 he reveals how “It was just the right time for a cockroach to make an appearance in my life.” Then he proceeds to juxtapose their mating customs with ours. As if he has been studying them over time and simultaneously comparing us to cockroaches. In the next paragraph he “Pays homage to Oon and all Thai prostitutes.” His way of shocking and upsetting you but also keeping you interested because you have no idea what he’ll say next. On page 54 he talks about how farmers “Desperate violence” was displayed by “Gutting pigs” and “Dumping tons of slurry” in front of Palais Bourbon and Esplanade des Invalides. So it should not surprise us when he meets Valerie, the one girl he likes and calls her a “Slut.” On page 56, as if trying to confirm this he talks about Valerie’s lesbian tryst with Berenice at age fourteen.
I find it ironic that Houellebecq’s voice is one that does not allow you as a reader to “Relax” and “Take pleasure” in his words. Whether you enjoy his writing style or not, as the reader and having purchased the book you feel you are “Entitled” to said pleasure. And yet as you read you are kicked off balance and must be “On your guard” for the next expletive or “Pussy” that he’s about to spit out. Simultaneously ironic, is that people who patronize resorts or patronize countries that offer “Sexual tourism” in their repertoire feel they are entitled to satisfaction as well. This evidenced by the slogan used, page 256 “The right to pleasure.” Stating that the use of this phrase “The right” hits a nerve with western civilization and its foundation of hypocritical and democratic tenets. The other exploits the misfortune of one in the name of Hedonism and Republicanism.
After finishing The Platform, I questioned myself, is the world really that bad? Is sex really promising as Michel describes it? Is Islam facing their damned stages (because paradise is already accessible in the world and Muslims don’t have to perform the 5 pillars to achieve the paradise on earth)? To answer the latter question, through the eyes of Westerners, Islam is generally regarded unfavorably. That’s why I’m not surprise when Michel (both the author and protagonist) express their hatred in Muslim people. The media (especially) usually associated Islam with Terrorism. In addition, there is an anti-Hijab (Islamic headscarf) law in France being publicly debated, as well as French Islamophobia. Growing up with this ideology of Islam, Houellebecq, was once on trial because calling Islam “the stupid religion”. Predictably, the book ends with a murderous attack by Muslim men with turban.
ReplyDeleteMoreover, the cataclysmic tragedy in Krabi put Michel into suicidal thought because he loses Valerie in terrorist attack conduct by Muslim extremists. However, I’m confused with the protagonist action later at the ending of the book, is he going to commit suicide or lived his life in a death-like situation?